| Schools across America have shown varying and often limited academic outcomes for African American students. In some cases, African American students perform lower on standardized tests, are more frequently referred to special education, and are more frequently subject to behavioral interventions. In trying to improve these outcomes, more schools are focusing on working collaboratively with families. The school site in this design development study has experienced significant barriers in cultivating school-to-home partnerships that improve student learning. These partnerships have been difficult to foster due to consistent unproductive interactions between some parents and teachers. This study aims to shift parent-teacher interactions away from interpersonal conflict and toward a focus on student needs and partnership toward student success.;This design study is unique in that the theory of action considers the historical experience of African American families in schools and connects this experience to parent-teacher interactions. By understanding this experience, I was able to develop an intervention that accounts for this experience without taking traditional approaches to addressing dynamics that can occur as a result.;For this study, I developed a theory of action and created an intervention design to improve parent-teacher interactions. Drawing from the literature, I identified several design elements: using an administrator as a neutral third party, establishing goodwill, creating new forms of interactions, facilitating co-ownership, building awareness of communication practices, and providing structured opportunities for problem solving. The intervention design involves 8 sessions designed for a parent, teacher, and administrator to engage in activities that help them to develop a shared understanding of a student's experience, identify ways to explore the student's experience more deeply, identify the needs of the student, take part in a structured opportunity for problem solving, and work toward partnership in the pursuit of meeting student needs. I investigated the impact of the design on the parent and teacher's interactions as well as the design process itself. The findings from this study suggest that the design had a positive impact on the parent's and teacher's perceptions of shared understanding, hope and efficacy to support the student together, and increased the quality of their interactions when the student was placed at the center. |
